Lovebirds
by greysky3
Summary: Sequel to Stripes and Feathers. Chase and Ivy are fifteen now, and they went back to Baltimore. Far from five-star hotels, they live in a run-down home near a dumpster! How will these two lovebirds manage, and will they realize all they need is each other? FLUFF, not much plot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: New story! Chase and Ivy are fifteen, picks up a few weeks after the last chapter of Stripes and Feathers.**

* * *

We were meeting Chase's infamous criminal friend. I told him it was time we got passports and credit cards. So, Chase decided we do it illegally. We had no proof of our existence for the past fifteen years, so it was really our only choice.

I waited, hugging my jacket to me. It was always windy in Baltimore. There was this salty breeze I didn't even know I'd missed. We were at a corner in a abandoned-looking area of Baltimore. Any kind of trouble, and we'd just fly away.

A man rounded the corner. He had a scruffy beard and looked like his bulky, greasy jacket had been dragged through miles of mud. I bet we looked like that too, so I decided not to judge him yet.

"You guys Chase and Ivy?" the man asked.

"I'm Chase," he said, stepping up.

"And I'm Ivy," I said, glaring at him and pushing past. He was _not_ going to get all protective on me. Until he decided on a birthday, I was the oldest.

"You guys need new identity documents?" he asked. Chase nodded before I could.

"Give me two hundred and I'll arrange a meeting," the guy said. Chase handed him the money. He took it and took out a grimy cell phone. As he dialed, I thought the whole thing was pretty suspicious.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Just call me Bub, sweetheart," he smiled with nasty yellow teeth. He spoke quickly on the phone to this guy called Steve. He hung up. "See that diner up the street? In an hour, you'll meet a friend of mine there."

He walked off and I stared after him. "That's your criminal friend? Bub?" I asked Chase.

"Hey, he got us a house," he defended himself. I shot him a disapproving look, but he shrugged it off.

"Let's go meet Steve," he said.

! #$%^&*

"Maybe we should order something," I said to Chase nervously. It had been an hour and this Steve guy still wasn't here.

"Calm down," Chase told me, taking both of my hands in his.

"It's just… when we were with Dr. Martinez, we did everything legally," I said, frowning.

"We'll be fine. Don't worry." I looked again at the door. It opened and this guy, younger than Bub but equally filthy walked in. I lifted my head a fraction of an inch and Chase caught it, dropping my hands and turning around slowly.

The guy had already reached our booth. "I'm Steve," he drew out.

"I'm Chase," Chase said. Steve nodded, sitting down.

"We're gonna start with IDs," he said. "I'm gonna ask you some questions. Who goes first?"

"I will," I volunteered.

"First name?"

"Ivy."

"Middle name?"

"Uh…"

"Just pick something."

"Adelyn."

"Nice choice. Last name?"

"Avenue."

"Birth date?"

"January 3rd 1998."

"Birthplace?"

"Baltimore."

"Hospital?"

"Johns Hopkins." The man nodded, having written all this down on a notepad I hadn't noticed earlier.

"Now you, young man. First name?"

"Chase."

"Middle name?"

"Hmm," Chase thought out loud.

"Oh, pick James!" I said.

"James," he told Steve.

"Last name?"

"Avenue," Chase said without thinking.

"Are you two related?" Steve asked. He looked at our clasped hands.

"Married?" he tried.

"No," I said.

"Yes," Chase answered. I glared at him.

"If you guys are related, it'll look really bad if you _do_ want to get married," Steve told us.

"We're not related. My _girlfriend_ and I have the same last name. Funny coincidence." Girlfriend? Much better. No way am I going to pass off as married, not yet at least.

"Pick something else, buddy," Steve said.

"Ride," Chase said, the only other name he could think of.

"Birth date?"

"January 1st, 1998."

"What? Now you're older?" I asked Chase, indignant. He smirked.

"Scratch that. I'm older. How about his birthday is in February," I told Steve.

"3rd," Chase added.

"How sweet," Steve muttered, writing it down.

"Hospital?"

"Johns Hopkins." The man nodded.

"Hopefully I'll be able to pass off the sweet story of two kids who were born in the same hospital, one month exactly after the other, and later met and fell in love. I'll say it was fate," Steve said. He smiled crookedly and left.

I frowned at Chase. "I'm older," I said.

"How do you know that for sure?" Chase taunted.

"It's what we've always said!" I hissed. "And you can't pick the same last name as me! That would be gross and wrong!"

Chase smiled like it was funny to make me mad. "Let's go 'home'," I told him.

"Why do you say it like that?"

"It's missing a _wall._

Can't you make a wall fly up to our house? It gets cold at night," I told Chase.

"Why don't you buy a heater and touch it to keep it running all night?"

"I want a wall, or else I'm leaving for Colorado."

"You wouldn't," he mocked.

"Watch me," I warned.

"Oh, come on, you wouldn't last two seconds without me."

"I was flock leader, and you bet I bloody well can!" I shouted. What can I say, too much Harry Potter in my youth.

"Why are you mad?" he called out.

"I want a wall!" I shouted, storming out of the restaurant. I bet if you see this scruffy-looking teenage girl in a bad part of town, screaming: "I want a wall" to another dodgy-looking teenager, you'd call the cops. I wouldn't blame you.

He ran outside after me. I stopped, turning around. "Please? It would be like a real home then," I told him. Chase sighed.

"Fine. I'll move some trash over and I'll nail it down." I smiled and he looked relieved.

"We also need to fix the Pit," I added. The Pit is what we named the hole in our living room floor. Our house has issues. On the bright side, you have an amazing view of the basement.

I snapped my wings out and flew up to the dump. It's not like anyone was there to watch. Past the dump is the "house" we live in. Yes, the one with the missing pieces of flooring and walls.

We landed in front of it and I took out the key. Why we have a key, I don't know. Anyone could walk through the back wall, because, oh, _there isn't one._ I turned the doorknob and walked in. It was a little chilly because another hole had ripped in the plastic covering where there _should_ be a wall.

I grabbed the duct tape, one of our few possessions, and patched it up. "Hey, can I start a fire?" I asked. Chase nodded from his couch, something we'd picked up from the dump. It was ripped up, but oh well. The mangled remains on random pieces of wiring from a broken TV's guts were on top of the small pile of wood in the fireplace.

I touched the TV guts and the pile sparked. The wood caught on fire instantly. I _love_ electrical fires. I turned to Chase.

"We can go to the dump. If there are any broken heaters, I bet I can fix them, and you can find wall stuff," I suggested.

"Sure," Chase said. I opened a window and climbed through, flying out. Doors are boring. I flew over the dump and landed in it. Since we'd found a working phone in it last week, I'd regained faith in the dump.

Luckily, our bed came with the house. No way I would sleep on anything from here. I walked carefully, trying not to slip on junk. Chase landed next to me and shuffled over. I spotted a TV.

I straightened the antenna and touched it lightly. It crackled to life and showed the news. I smiled. I felt Chase's arms around my shoulders. "You're amazing," he said.

I turned around and gave him the TV. "Fly this back to the house. I'll see if I can find anything else."

I pressed the power button and the TV fell silent. With a kiss on my forehead, Chase flew away, holding the TV in his arms. I walked forward again. There was another TV, but this one had its screen bashed in.

I spotted a heater and walked towards it. I touched it but it didn't respond to electricity. I moved on, seeing a blanket. It had a few holes but was okay. I picked it up. I saw a computer, again it didn't respond to electricity.

I spotted another heater. Fingers crossed, I waded over to it. I touched it and it vibrated. I touched it again, and it started lighting up. I held my hand over it and felt heat. I smiled in triumph.

Chase landed next to me and I have him the big heater. "It works," I told him. He smiled at me. "Let's carry it together," I suggested. I wrapped the heater in the blanket.

We each took one end of the wrapped heater and started flying towards the "house." We landed in front of it and it opened the door, pulling it in. Our house actually had a second floor, so we flew the heater up to our bedroom.

The TV was already on the dresser, one of the few items of furniture the house had. I sat on the bed and touched the heater until it gurgled to life. I put the blanket on the bed. I lied down on my side of the bed and picked up the charcoal.

I'd drawn a scene like the one in the house I'd shared with Chase and Avery back when all three of us were in Baltimore. I sighed, remembering Avery. She used to be Chase's pretend sister.

I'd drawn snow and huskies and a sled, along with a wolf. I was working on the wolf's eyes. It was almost finished. I scraped the piece of charcoal along the wall, sitting on the bed.

"How do you make the TV work?" Chase asked. The object in question fell into my lap. I touched it quickly then pressed the power button. As soon as I'd let go, Chase flew it back to him.

The man on TV started droning about the weather in Baltimore. Chase watched attentively as I finished the wolf. I took a step back. It was finished. "Done," I announced.

I felt Chase's arms wrap around me. "It's beautiful, as always." I curled into him, his warmth the only thing not cold in this damn house.

"Hey, can I draw on your side of the room?"

"You can draw on my face if you want to," Chase answered, only half-joking.

"'I've always wanted to see what you'd look like in a mustache," I joked. I stood up and walked over to his side. I pulled up a broken, duct-taped chair and sat on it. I wrote in fancy, flowery script: _Ivy Adelyn Avenue and Chase James Ride. _

"Do you have a mirror?" I asked. A mirror fell into my lap. "Thanks," I mumbled, looking at myself. I had a heart-shaped face, wide gray eyes, freckles, loosely wavy light brown hair.

In a few, imprecise lines, I'd sketched out my face accurately. I didn't need to look at Chase's face. I'd memorized it through and through. I sketched his handsome dark eyes, his nose, his jaw, and his always-ruffled dark brown hair.

I yawned. I'd add in the details. "I'm going to bed," I told Chase. He got up and turned off the TV. I got into bed next to him, shivering a little. I tapped the heater and it started warming up the room.

Chase hugged me closer. We might have been freezing, scavenging, unlawful mutants, but I was managing. I had all I'd ever needed right next to me.

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**A/N: AWWW! Now review, please!**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey, look what I found," Chase said, climbing into our room from the window. I looked up from what I was drawing. I was finishing the feathers on my self-portrait.

I got up from my rickety chair and saw what he was holding out. He had three cans of spray paint. I laughed. "Where'd you get that?"

"The dump," he answered. I shook the cans; they were at least half full. Or they were half empty, depending on how you look at it. There was black, red, and green.

"What you should get is wall stuff. I got us a heater, your turn now," I said. I paused, walking closer to Chase. "But thanks, though."

"You're welcome," he said smugly.

"I swear, one day you'll wake up with your face full of this," I muttered, shaking the cans menacingly.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing. Hey, maybe we should call Fang and Max," I suggested.

"Sure, now that we have a phone," Chase answered. I picked it up. It was an old cord phone. I'd hooked it up to a phone line nearby. I wasn't sure if it could actually call. I called the house number for Max's house. She lived with Fang and the kids now. Until we came to Baltimore, it was Dr. Martinez that had taken care of us like her own kids.

There was an encouraging buzz; then it started ringing. "It's working!" I told Chase.

MAX

Raven looked at me with wide, pleading dark eyes to rival Fang's. Her chubby, two-year-old feet barely held her up. "Mommy!" she shouted, or as much as her tiny voice allowed.

I had Corella, or Cory for short, on my lap. I was trying to get the fair-haired infant to sleep, but with Raven's shouting, it was going to be Mission Impossible. Sort of like the whole parent thing had been working out until then.

The door opened and in came Fang. He kissed me lightly and picked up Raven. He swung her around, her black hair flying behind her. Still giggling, Raven calmed down when Fang put her down.

The phone rang. "I'll take it," I told Fang. I handed him Cory. "Stay with the girls!"

I walked over to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" I asked. A horrible crackle answered me.

"Max?" a voice replied. I could barely recognize it through all the static. "It's Ivy."

"Oh, hi Ivy!" I said, a grin creeping onto my face. Ivy was like another little sister after Ella, and ever since she and Chase were together and settled down, I was so happy for her. "How's everything?"

"Well, we just got a phone. And our house is a hobo house," she said. I heard Chase in the background.

"Let me talk to her!" he said.

"No, wait a sec!" Ivy said. There was the sound of a struggle peppered with shouts of: "Let go!"

"Hi, Max," Chase finally said. "Everything is fine, and the house is great. How are the kids? Did you know you're going to be an _aunt_?"

"CHASE!" Ivy screamed and wrenched the phone from him. "He's lying. No, no way." This conversation was going from good to weird to scary.

Chase's laughter could be heard through the phone. "Not funny!" Ivy said to him.

"Well, how's life?" she asked me.

"Good. Cory said her first word!"

"Really? What was it?" Ivy asked.

"Wing," I answered. I heard a small "aw" from the other side of the line. Raven flew over to me and gripped my leg.

"Who?" Raven asked.

"I'm talking to Ivy. Go back to Daddy," I told her. She frowned and left, walking back to Fang.

"Was that Raven?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah," I told her. Another horrible, static-y crackle interrupted us.

"I don't know how much longer this'll work. We're fine, and pass it on to your mom. You know how worried she was about us leaving."

"Sure. Have fun in your hobo house!" I said. I heard Ivy laugh.

"It's not that bad," Chase grumbled in the background.

"Bye," Ivy said.

"Bye." Ivy hung up. An earsplitting cry of: "MOMMY!" later, I ran back towards Fang and the girls.

IVY

"Not okay," I chastised. "You can't go around telling Max she's going to be an aunt!"

"You should've seen the look on your face," Chase chuckled.

"I'm sure it was hilarious," I muttered.

"Don't you want to paint something with the spray paints _I_ got you?" he asked.

"We need to buy food. And a wall. And flooring for the Pit. And a dog, while we're at it," I said.

"I'll make a list," Chase deadpanned. I sighed.

"We can't keep wasting our money on McDonald's," I said.

"It's not expensive," he said.

"You know what is? Diabetes. From their food." Chase rolled his eyes.

"Why do you have to be such a killjoy? Can't you we do something fun for once?" he asked.

"Like what?" I asked. He reached behind me and opened the window. I was about to turn around to see what he was doing, when he pushed my right out of it.

I barely had time to react and unfurl my wings before splattering onto the ground like a bug. I righted myself and Chase swooped past.

"Come on! It's a sunny day, let's go to the harbor!" he said, waving the Max card at me. It was really an extension of the bottomless account Max had, which explained why we could afford to just, well, live.

I flew up high, my super-human sense of direction pointing me towards the harbor. We flew side by side. It was a sunny day, and the beautiful light shone off of the trash of the dump.

Soon, the buildings became prettier and tidier. Far off, you could see the water. The seagulls shrieked around us, wondering what kind of weird birds we were.

We dropped in a small street near the harbor. Not many people were there, so we weren't seen. We walked over to the inner harbor slowly, holding hands. I grinned at Chase.

"You were right. This _is_ more fun that fixing the house," I told him.

"Who needs walls anyway?"

"I do. And I shouldn't be letting you stall…"

"Want to go get ice cream?" Chase asked. He knows me too well. I forgot all about the walls. I forgot all about being mad at him because he told Max I was pregnant. I just enjoyed a fun walk with Chase, a date, like we hadn't had time for since we moved to Baltimore.

We walked along the harbor, feeling the salty spray of the ocean. I practically smiled my face off until my face hurt. When the sun started to set, we flew towards a nearby park. Watching the sky turn pink, I started to wonder about the Pagoda.

"Do you think we should attack the Pagoda? Or the Johns Hopkins?" I asked Chase. He gripped my hand tighter.

"The bottom part of Johns Hopkins is an actual hospital. It helps people. And we wouldn't want it to end up like last time."

I leaned in to Chase and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tighter. "I was so freaked I couldn't go to the pool for months," I said quietly.

"And Avery," Chase said. That didn't need any more explanation. I wouldn't dare risk Chase's life, and he wouldn't ever risk mine.

"We should go home," Chase said, watching the last of the sun disappear, leaving purple and pink streaks in the sky. I opened my wings and flapped up, Chase following. We took the same way over to the house.

Once there, Chase unlocked the door. The house was dark. Yawning, I pressed my palm flat against the wall and all the lights turned on. Chase came in and I closed the door behind us.

I made my way up to our room and I turned the TV on, and tapped the heater so the room would warm up. Chase came up after, and I huddled into the ratty blanket I'd gotten the day before.

Chase leaned back into his pillow next to me. We watched a lady with caked-on makeup talk about silly things. After a while, Chase made it come to the bed. He pressed the power button and it turned off. He flew the TV back to the dresser. I touched the wall and the lights turned off.

In the darkness, my eyes were wide open. "Fix the wall. Please," I said. I heard Chase sigh.

"Tomorrow," he mumbled.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

**A/N: Did you notice how Max and Fang's kids both have bird names? Google Corella.**

**MORE FLUFF! Yay!**

**Now review. Do it. Now.**

**Fly on!**

**~greysky3**


	3. Chapter 3

"A little bit to the left… Higher… That was too much, lower… To the right… Perfect! Leave it there," I called down to Chase. Flapping my wings powerfully to stay in the same spot, hovering in the air, I put the long nail onto the huge piece of wood.

I tapped on it with the hammer experimentally. The tip sunk in. I hit it harder, and it bent. I pulled it out with the other end of the hammer, straightened it out, and put it back on. I hit it right on the head and it bent.

I yanked it out and let it fall below. "Your nails are crap," I told Chase. "Throw me up a few more."

"I actually bought those," he said. The box flew up and landed in my outstretched hand. I picked a long nail from the plastic box. I placed it again, steadying it, and hit it hard. It sunk in halfway. Tap! Tap! Tap!

The nail was in. I moved to the left, working rhythmically, hammering in the nails. The top of the piece of wood was on. I went down the other side, hitting in nails at a regular interval.

I landed on the ground, two sides of the wall nailed down. There wasn't much to do for the bottom, where a few inches were left between the bottom of the wall and the floor. I flew up to the side I hadn't nailed down. I placed the first nail, working down again.

I landed next to Chase. "You can let go now," I said. His face relaxed and there was this horrible creak. The wall had to stay without Chase's power holding it up. The wall shifted and, fingers crossed, I watched it sway a little. It held up.

"Yes!" I said happily. Chase held out his hand and I high-fived it. "Is this thing waterproof?" I asked.

"Don't know."

"Better than nothing," I said. Finally. A wall. You have no idea the amount of asking, begging, blackmailing and threatening it took for me to get that luxury. I took out my green can of spray paint and flew up again.

On the rugged wood wall, I started drawing. First, it started out as small star shapes, something like heart shapes. I added them along, as a pattern, all along one corner of the house.

I flew back down to admire my work. It looked like little leaves were snaking down on our wall.

"Is that…ivy?" Chase asked.

"Yeah," I said, laughing.

"Hey, I got you another present from the hardware store," Chase added.

"What?" He took out a can from the plastic bag. "Spray foam insulation?"

"Yeah. For the bottom edge. Or all the edges," Chase explained.

"You can do that. I did all the hammering," I told him.

"And what are you going to do? Sleep?"

"I'm going to go shopping for groceries. And pans and stuff like that."

"We don't even _have_ a kitchen."

"We have fire. Just give me the Max card already." Chase sighed and handed me the credit card.

"I'll be back soon. Love ya!" I said, running to get a flying start.

"You too," Chase answered, holding the cans of spray foam.

! #$%^&*

"Whoa! What's all that stuff?" Chase asked me. I was losing grip of the huge box underneath all the others.

"Shut up and help me," I told him. I handed him the box and he looked at the obvious picture on it.

"A computer? What happened to groceries?" he asked. I set down the other computer box, the three tablet boxes, and the two phone boxes on top of the pile.

"Why eat when you can get a computer?" I said. I pulled out one last thing from a plastic bag. "Oh, and look. Internet," I told Chase, waving the router at him.

"We don't even have electricity!" Chase said.

"Yes. We do," I answered, pointing to myself.

"We don't have a phone contract," he tried.

"We do now!" I exclaimed. "We can throw away that old cord phone."

"How did you get a phone contract?" Chase asked.

"Bottomless credit cards do come in handy," I explained. "Help me unwrap the computers." I opened one box and took out a sleek, new, beautiful iMac OSX Mountain Lion. "These things are brand new!" I told Chase excitedly.

"Probably a fortune too," he grumbled.

"Aren't you glad it's not us paying?" I took out the two phones and gave one to him. "I even got us cases."

I took out one iPhone case that had stripes and an anchor or something on it. I handed Chase a white one with black edges and wings in the middle. I had also gotten little wing-shaped stands for the three iPads and two iPhones.

I turned on the router and a computer. I made myself an account on it.

**User: **Ivy Avenue

**Password:** hahachasetrytoguessthisone

I quickly connected the Internet and renamed it "Ivy's Internet." I made the password "thisismyinternetsinceibought it."

I gave Chase the other computer so he could use it himself, but he was too absorbed in making an email account. "Do we have unlimited texting?" Chase asked.

"Yeah. You're welcome!" I answered, putting a case to match my iPhone on one of the iPads, one to match Chase's phone, and one with a plain white case.

I set my iPad up, added a password (you learn to be paranoid around Chase), and made it simply "password."

I threw a tight mass of dark blue wires to Chase. "Got us earphones," I announced.

"Is there anything even left in the Apple store?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"We still need to get food," I said.

"I'll go," Chase said. "And now I can call you if I'm in a life-threatening situation."

"Or text me," I said.

"Sure. OMG, Ersrs, GTG, LOL!" I shot him a look and he laughed. "Be back soon."

"OMG, BYE!" I called out.

* * *

**A/N: REVIEW!**

**OMG, PLZ REVIEW OR ELSE!**  
**GTG L8R XD!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey guys! I should be reading Emma for school... Yeah... Not doing too good with that..**

**More of the Fax kids! Yay!**

**If you want actual Fax, then check out my story Snippets. It's full-flock, and epic!**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

My fancy new phone rang for the first time on that fateful morning. Okay, I have to admit I fell off the bed when I heard my duck ringtone. I thought it was funny at the time when I set it up. But you try being woken up by a random duck noise.

All my fighting instincts went into overdrive and… I landed on the floor in a crumpled pile. "Ow," I muttered, the duck still quacking its heart out.

"You okay?" Chase asked sleepily.

"Sure," I said, reaching for the phone. I pressed answer without even looking to see who it was.

"Ivy?" Max's voice rang out of the phone.

"Max! Hi!" I answered, all the tiredness suddenly drained out of me.

"How's everything?" she asked.

"Fine."

"Cory's turning one!"

"Oh, congrats!" I said. I glared at Chase for not remembering then turned back to the phone.

"And we wanted to come visit to celebrate!" she continued, her voice falsely upbeat.

"Oh," I said. "You, and Fang, _and_ the girls?" I heard Max sigh on the phone.

"That's the cover story. Mom was so worried about you guys that we have to go check on you."

"There's a hole in the living room floor," I stated bluntly.

"That'll be interesting," she chuckled.

"When are you coming?" I asked.

"We're already in a motel in Kentucky, so I'll say we'll be there by this afternoon."

"You guys flying?"

"Fang and I are, but Raven's wings are still too weak," Max said.

"Did you get the email with our address?"

"Yeah. I guess it's until this afternoon?"

"See you then," I said.

"Bye."

! #$%^&*

There was a knock on the door around five in the afternoon. I opened the door and saw Max with dark circles under her eyes, holding a small, blond baby in her arms. Cory had her little black wings sticking out from under Max's arms.

Fang held Raven's hand, and she also had tan wings that dangled out a little. They had both grown so much. Cory was still a newborn when we'd left.

"Hi!" I said. Max handed Cory to Fang and hugged me, then Chase. Fang didn't look too happy about having the kids dumped on him, and he nodded at us. Fang was never the hugging type.

Neither was Max, but flock members were the exceptions to that general Max Rule.

"Nice place," Fang said. I let out a snort as his eyes ran over the crudely built wall and the huge freaking hole in the floor.

He shot me an amused glance as he shuffled closer to the Pit. We'd always had a siblings vibe.

"You guys need a tour!" I exclaimed. Chase shot me a look that could've killed butterflies.

"That's where there used to be no wall, but now there is one that's almost better than nothing," I said cheerfully pointing to the thin, wooden back wall.

"That's the floor, except there," I said, pointing to the Pit. I walked over to it. "That's the Pit, and that's the basement."

Max chuckled a little. "What about a tour of Baltimore?"

"You can go on your own, and we'll take care of the girls!" Chase piped up. He shot me a triumphant smirk and I knew it was payback. Big-time.

"Sure. Why not?" Fang said. He handed me Cory, who was still sleeping.

"We're gonna go out," Max told Raven. "Stay with Ivy, okay?" The toddler nodded. Chase showed them out the door and they left, looking relieved they finally had a chance to escape.

As soon as the door closed, the shouting started. "We can't have kids here! It's dangerous!" I yelled at Chase.

"Why were you so negative in the tour?" he shot back.

"This house is crap!" I screamed.

"MOMMY SAYS NO BAD WORDS!" Raven yelled above it all. We both quieted down and looked at her. Her black eyes were almost fiery, and her tan wings were spread out around her like a miniature Angel of Death.

It took all my willpower not to laugh. I looked down at the blond baby in my arms. Cory had opened her eyes. They were brown, just like Max's. She giggled a little then she started frowning. She beat her black wings and started to wail.

I shot a desperate look at Chase. She was wriggling in my arms, screaming like I was murdering her. "What do I do?" I asked him, unable to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Sing? Sway?" he suggested.

"Why don't you google it?" I asked, not fully trusting Chase's maternal instincts.

"Just try it," he told me. I held Cory and started swaying.

"Um, this is just a random song. I don't now if it'll be long," I started half-singing. "I hope Max comes right back. I'm going to kill her with a… pack."

Cory's mouth shut and she stared at me, her wide brown eyes enraptured. "I don't know what else to say. I can't rhyme too well today," I sang.

"I hope that you fall asleep. I'm not singing another song if… something's deep?" I sang, not thinking of anything else that could rhyme with that. Chase shot me an amused look, and I sent back my deluxe "don't-even-start" glare.

Cory closed her eyes. "Stay asleep baby bird girl, and your wings don't unfurl," I finished the song. Cory hummed contentedly and didn't open her eyes again.

I handed her to Chase, who sat down on the couch with her. I sat down next to him until a realization hit me like a meteor. "Where's Raven?"

I shot up from the couch. "Raven?" I called. There was no answer. "Raven!"

I heard a giggle coming from _below the floor._ I was about to freak out majorly when I remembered the Pit.

I leaned over it and saw the toddler running around the basement, laughing. I gripped the rough edges of the Pit and dangled my body into the hole. I snapped out my wings and flew gently down to the basement.

I'd never really been down there. It was dark, and damp. The only light came from the hole above. Overall, it was not a fun place. "Raven? Come here," I called out to the darkness.

A small form crashed into me. "Ivy," Raven giggled. I sighed and picked her up. She put her arms around my neck as I hoisted her small, light body up against mine. My wings still out, I flew her up and cleared the tight opening.

Raven burrowed her head into my neck. "You fly like Mommy and Daddy," she said quietly. I landed on the floor. I set her down gently and she looked at me with a smile. Maybe she'd finally learned to trust me.

She hugged my leg and I stroked her soft black hair. Raven suddenly let go and was off again, giggling and running around, until her small wings lifted her up a foot. She fell back down and collapsed in laughter.

Chase handed me Cory again. She was still sleeping, thank God and whatever other divinities that may be out there. Chase went after Raven. I sat down with Cory on the couch, half-listening to Chase. "Careful! Raven—Don't touch that! Come back!" he shouted.

I heard a knock on the door. Were Fang and Max back already? I left Cory on the couch for a second and opened the door. It swung open and I felt something pummel me. I fell backwards before a hairy Eraser stepped on me, knocking the wind out of me.

I coughed, wheezed and tried to scream, but no sound escaped me. I got up brokenly and Chase arrived. His eyes widened. I started stepping away from the door and towards the couch. I ran for Cory and picked her up, holding her against me. Raven hid behind my legs as Chase picked up the couch and slammed in against an Eraser that flew out of the window.

There were still five Erasers in the house. It was killing me to not be able to fight, but, well, I had a baby in my arms. Cory and Raven came first, no matter what. The Eraser that looked like the leader turned to me while Chase slammed random furniture into other Erasers.

The leader, who had scars and was missing an eye, was closing in on me. I held Cory closer. The infant's eyes had opened, and she was watching everything fearfully like she understood it.

"I remember when you were really small," the Eraser snarled. "They put you into a room, didn't they?" I backed away steadily, until I felt the wall behind me. I grabbed Raven's small hand and held Cory tighter.

"I watched you cry when it got smaller," he continued, an awful smile showing sharp, yellow teeth. "Are you going to cry again?" he asked, close enough that he could just reach out and touch me, or Cory.

The toaster slammed into his head and knocked him to the ground. I had a whole new appreciation for our toaster. I opened my eyes I had shut on instinct, and saw that the other Erasers were unconscious. I pressed my palm flat against the Eraser leader's chest and he sizzled with electricity. He wouldn't wake up.

I set Cory down on the couch to help drag the Erasers' bodies, but she started crying again. I picked her up and she was quiet. I pulled on one Eraser half-heartedly, the baby in my arms limiting my movements.

I opened the door and tossed two Erasers out. They tumbled down to the dump. Chase pushed three more out the door and I shut it. Chase quickly rearranged all the furniture and I sat on the couch. Cory closed her eyes on my lap. Chase sat down next to me and Raven sat on his lap.

I closed my eyes for a second, breathing heavily. Memories flooded me, memories I'd buried deep within me that the Eraser had brought back.

! #$%^&*

MAX

"When was the last time we did this?" I asked Fang.

"What?"

"Went out without the kids," I said.

"We haven't since Cory was born," Fang said. "And when you were pregnant with her, you were too tired to deal with Raven and yourself."

I smiled. "Yeah. We should get out more often."

"Are Chase and Ivy really the best babysitters?" he asked.

"I'm sure they did fine," I said, landing in front of their house. I opened the door with a key they'd given me.

Raven jumped at us when she saw us. "MOMMY! DADDY!" she screamed in her little girl voice. I smiled at how much she looked like Fang, other than her wings. She'd gotten my tan wings.

"Hey!" Fang said, picking her up and twirling her around like she loved. She giggled and Fang set her down.

"How was your playdate with Chase and Ivy?" I asked her. She smiled.

"There were wolf-men!" she said.

I exchanged a look with Fang. "Wolf-men?"

"Like in Red Riding Hood," she said, demonstrating by shaping her hands in claw shapes. "They came in and bam! Chase hit them with flying things."

"Really? Did anyone get hurt?" I asked her.

"Nope," she said, carefree as ever.

"Where are Ivy and Chase now?" I asked her. She pointed to the couch. Chase was on one end, leaning back, with Ivy leaning into him. Chase had one arm behind Ivy's back, and she was holding with both her arms Cory, who was also sleeping.

I picked Cory up gently. "We should let them sleep. It sounds like they've had a full day," I told Fang. He nodded. I went upstairs and took over their room from sleeping in on the job.

The walls were fully decorated with charcoal drawings, and some in spray paint. On one side was a northern scene I recognized from when Ivy and her mini-flock had lived in Baltimore.

On the other side were perfectly realistic drawings of Chase and Ivy. I lay down on the bed, Fang next to me; and both girls in the middle, Cory wrapped in a pale yellow blanket.

"They are so in trouble in the morning," I told Fang.

"Whatever you say," he dismissed me.

"Don't agree with me!"

"Fine. They're not in trouble." I smacked Fang and he pushed me and we started a fun little shouting match.

"STOP IT!" Raven shouted. "You're being bad like Chase and Ivy. Time out!"

The rest of the night was passed in utter silence.

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**A/N: Raven... Such a rule-happy toddler...**

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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Really short, but with a twist.**

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"Once upon a time, there was a princess, Princess Ivy. There was also a prince, Prince Chase. They lived in a dungeon that belonged to the evil Queen Hinters."

"How come?" Raven asked.

"Because she was evil, and wanted to keep the beautiful princess's talents for herself," I explained.

"Don't be too modest," Chase said sarcastically. I glared at him and continued my story.

"There was also Princess Max and Prince Fang who lived in a kingdom with the Knights of the Flock—Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel."

"There were girl knights?" Raven demanded.

"Angel and Nudge were the best girl knights ever and they kicked butt," I reassured her. "So they came to rescue Prince Chase and Princess Ivy."

"I thought it was the prince who rescues the princess!" Raven wailed.

"Not this time, because if Princess Max heard that, she'd say you were being sexist," I argued, tired of justifying everything in a stupid _fairytale. _Raven gave me a blank look and I continued, hoisting up the gurgling baby on my lap as Cory grabbed at my hair. "But actually, their rescue mission failed and they got captured too like idiots. So Queen Hinters made them do tests to prove how brave they were and they all were super brave."

"Except Princess Ivy, who screamed like a girl when they made her take a bath," Chase added.

"She _was_ a girl! And it wasn't a bath," I protested. "Princess Ivy was _five_," I almost whispered.

Chase looked at me with an apology in his eyes. Maybe this wasn't the best idea for a story to tell Raven and Cory, but now that I'd started it, I had to finish it.

"So one day, they jumped out of the window and flew away," I continued.

"Why didn't they do that before?" Raven asked me.

"Because before there were guards. This time it was there weren't any," I said. "Then Prince Chase became King of Baltimore, and Ivy became Queen. And then Fang became King and Max became Queen. And the Knights and girl knights became princes and princesses."

"But now there are no more princesses!" Raven said.

"There were new princesses, Princess Raven and Princess Corella," I said, finishing the story.

Raven clapped her chubby hands. "Another!" she exclaimed.

"I'm tired," I told her, dropping to the floor, where we'd put a fluffy carpet (bottomless credit card). She crawled over me like I was furniture then got right into my face. I could see her dark lashes that matched her hair.

"Sorry," I told her, sitting up and setting her down. It was amazing she could talk so well when she was so young, but I guess the modified DNA got passed down to her.

She ran upstairs to wake up her parents. Two days into their visit, and she navigated the house like it was her own. I handed Cory to Chase and he moved towards the stairs, climbing up. I opened a grimy window. By the way it was squeaking; it hadn't been opened in forever.

What I saw almost made me cry out, but the chokehold the Eraser had on me stopped me from making a sound. I was dragged down through the window, my wings beating uselessly behind me against the Eraser's strength.

! #$%^&*

"Hey, Ivy, what should we do today?" Chase asked, turning around. "Ivy?" No one answered. Her fancy new phone was still on the table; she would've taken it if she'd left. The window was open, and a few feathers were left scattered under it.

Chase didn't find any notes or messages. As Max and Fang walked downstairs, yawning, he looked at them anxiously. Catching the look on Chase's face, Fang asked, "Where's Ivy?"

"They took her," Chase said somberly.

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**A/N: Le wild plot appears!**

**Okaaaay.**

**Got things moving ^^**

**I'll figure out something really angsty and dramatic... soon...**

***Sigh* Okay. Well, I know this story isn't as popular as Snippets, but please give it a try *puppy eyes***

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